Former Sen. Pete Domenici reveals out-of-wedlock son

Amid fears that someone else would disclose his secret, former New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, 80, announced Wednesday that he fathered a son out of wedlock more than 30 years ago.

“More than 30 years ago, I fathered a child outside my marriage. The mother of that child made me pledge that we would never reveal that parenthood, and I have tried to honor that pledge and so has she,” Domenici, a Republican, told the Albuquerque Journal. “I have been concerned about the burden of privacy on the son Adam Laxalt.”

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Domenici, who fathered eight children with his wife, Nancy, said his family learned “several months” ago that he had a child with Michelle Laxalt, a Washington lobbyist and daughter of former Nevada Sen. and Gov. Paul Laxalt.

“My past action has caused hurt and disappointment to my wife, children, family and others. For that I am solely responsible. My family has been aware of these events for several months. I have apologized as best as I can to my wife, and we have worked together to strengthen our relationship,” he said in his statement to the Journal.

Though he wouldn’t say who, Domenici revealed that someone else was going to break the news if he did not.

“Rather than have others breach this privacy, I have decided to make this statement. … I deeply regret this and am very sorry for my behavior. I hope New Mexicans will view that my accomplishments for my beloved state outweigh my personal transgression,” he said.

Domenici told the paper that he hopes New Mexicans forgive him and that regrets the situation. Michelle Laxalt expressed anger toward whoever was holding the information against them as “a weapon.”

“I raised my son, Adam Paul, as a single parent. He lived surrounded by love and joy and opportunity. I am proud of him, yet saddened that the circumstances of his birth might be used like a weapon to hurt many we love,” she said in a statement to the Journal.

She continued: “Recently information has come to me that this sacred situation might be twisted, re-written out of whole cloth, and shopped to press outlets large and small in a vicious attempt to smear, hurt and diminish Pete Domenici, an honorable man, his extraordinary wife, Nancy, and other innocents. Why after more than 30 years, would anyone insinuate pain and ugliness where joy and beauty have presided?”

Domenici retired in 2008 after serving six terms. Adam Laxalt is an attorney who graduated from Georgetown Law Center and has also served time in Iraq in the Navy, the Journal reported. He would not comment for that story, but it was noted that he helped write Domenici’s statement.